Paradigm Leads $82M Funding Round for Crypto Payments Firm Mesh

Mesh, a crypto payments network, has successfully raised $82 million in its Series B funding round, led by venture capital firm Paradigm. The round also attracted participation from other investors, including Consensys, QuantumLight Capital, and Yolo Investments, bringing the platform’s total funding to $120 million.

The newly raised funds will be used to expand Mesh’s payment solutions globally, with a focus on stablecoin adoption. Mesh aims to make it easier for cryptocurrency holders to make payments with assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana, while allowing merchants to receive payments in stablecoins like PayPal USD. This ensures fast and seamless transactions, with the payments automatically converted to the supported stablecoin.

Bam Azizi, the CEO and co-founder of Mesh, highlighted the importance of stablecoins, calling them the biggest opportunity to disrupt the payments industry since the introduction of credit and debit cards. He believes that Mesh is positioned to scale this vision globally.

Founded in 2020, Mesh connects hundreds of exchanges, wallets, and financial services providers, with key partnerships including MetaMask, Shift4, and Revolut. Additionally, Mesh has partnered with platforms like CoinCDX (India-based), Conio (crypto wallet), and Paribu (Turkey-based crypto platform).

In a notable development, most of the VC funding in this round was settled in PayPal USD (PYUSD), a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Paxos and backed by PayPal. This investment in PYUSD provides advantages such as instant settlement, transparency, and 24/7 support for the venture capital firms.